The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-01-10

of distinguished statesmen, and fnanciers, and
the lives of those who have made stir in the
world. In the library there is a splendid col
lection of books of this character.
By far the most interesting of the contents of
the library is the very large collection of auto
graph letters from the most distinguished men
in America. They date back to fifty years and
more ago, when Sherman was first starting out
In his career When still Young man he con-
ceived the idea of keeping every letter he re-
ceived. and the result of this determination is
that he has vast collection Of letters, covering
every period in the Republics history for the
past quarter of a century They are all care
fully arranged and classified, and by the aid of a
comprehensive index any one of them can be
found at moments notice. Should the
Ohio Senator ever reach the goal for which he
Is a recognized asplrant, we may be sure these
letters will be of use to him in paying off old
scores. But though he Is the recipient of so
many letters, he very rarely writes one, and
seems to have taken to himself as rule the old
adage, never write letter and never destroy
one" If this adage had been adopted by many
another statesman, what difference there
might have been in American history. 1t is a
question what will become of these letters when
Sherman dies. No doubt many of them are of
sensational interest. and, should they be pub
lished, light may be thrown on some facts in
our public history that would be start
ling The most interesting of the many
letters would be those which have been
exchanged between the Senator and his brother,
the General The two brothers have always
been the best of friends, and not the smallest
cloud of discord has ever come between them.
1t is not generally known that the statesman
narrowly escaped being the soldier of the fam
lily and vice versa. The father died when John
was about six years old. and the General very
little older. The family were in poor cir
cumstances, and Thomas Ewing offered to
adopt one of the boys, ''the smartest
and tn. best" as he expressed it A family
council was held, and it was decided that
"Cumpy," the future soldier called,
oh NIL ho Go <ha thc of <1o<x h0v-c
diverged. John studied law and went into poll
tics; his brother went to West Point and became
the General of the Army. But to return the
letters. The two brothers have correspondent
all their lives, and the Senator has every letter
that the General ever wrote him. There are
thousands of them, pasted in four huge vol
ume, and they contain history of the soldier
brothers life In these days when IN
such great demand, what a feast it
would be to read these letters. They
are addressed from every place under the sun.
From school, from West Point. from the plains
when he was simple lieutenant. then during
the great civil war. before great movements, af
ter bloody battles, from headquarters. a
drum head, and from every conceivable place
and under every conceivable circumstance, and
they were written, not for the public, but for his
second self and everything was told and moth
ing kept back. No doubt one of these days thew
will all be published, and certainly they will
form most interesting contribution to the his
Tory OIL the war.
The domestic life and personal habits of the
Senator are remarkable for their regularity and
method. Nothing can be simpler than his home
l,fe As we have said, he is another man in
private life from what he is in his public ca
| pacity. He arises about in the morning, and
| Immediately has his breakfast. He then reads
the morning papers and attends to his personal
correspondence. By this time it is, per-
haps IL o'clock, and his carriage drawn
by two ordinary looking bay horses, is
at the door. He is driven leisurely to the Cap
itol and every morning is promptly in his
chair at IL o'clock and calls the Senate to
order. He works hard and earnestly that he
may get through and leave his desk clear OF
work when the time for adjournment come He
| is COOL deliberate and parliamentary. and makes
| an excellent presiding officer. But once at home
! he is just the reverse Here ne is one of the
| most domestic Of men. He is, in his way, affec-
| tionate, considerable and even demonstrative As
| he does not take his home life into politics. sc
he does not take politics across the threshold Of
| his home. He represents in his life two sea
sons-he leads double life-summer at home
| winter outside.